CBF-
100+ Head-Fier
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2012
- Posts
- 100
- Likes
- 19
Hi, everyone. I’ve been lurking here for almost a year, but I’ve finally decided to make an account because I need the advice of Headfi.
I currently own an AKG K271 MKII and want to upgrade to an open backed headphone. I’m looking at the $700 price range right now, which basically has the Shure 1840, Grado RS1i, and the Hifiman HE500. I don’t like the bright Grado sound, so that leaves the Shure and Hifiman. I’ve heard the Shure, but it didn’t really impress me (the AKG K702 for a third of the price sounded much clearer to me) and it measures poorly. So that leaves the Hifiman, which I’m wary about since I really care about how long they’ll last. One of the reason why the Shures were so attractive to me before I heard them is because you can buy cables, pads, etc relatively cheaply. The HE400 is hot right now, and someone will probably recommend them. They are in consideration, although I am looking for a neutral sound and I’m not sure the HE400 is flat enough.
Another thing is that I will be buying the headphones from Amazon, as I have some gift card money on the site, so that leaves only certain vendors.
My big problem with Hifiman is with the cables, and a secondary one would be driver mismatch (this one doesn’t concern me too much). The new silver ones seem very fragile, much more than the old Canare cables (the same ones the HE400 uses?), and I’ve read many posts of people’s breaking. I don’t want to DIY heat shrink the wire and the connector because I haven’t done it before and I’m not confident I won’t fry the wire. Replacement cables are all around $100 which is way too much for me. I don’t believe cables make a difference in sound, so all I want is durability.
Is it possible for Head-Direct (or other Amazon vendors) to send the Canare cable instead of the silver cable? If they can’t and the silver cable breaks, do I have to send the cable back to them (and pay my own shipping) before they send a new cable? I’m already going to pay a lot for the headphones, and more money spent on shipping a defective item back is something I want to avoid. This includes the driver mismatch problem I guess. From what I’ve read, none of the authorized dealers on Amazon have free return shipping even for defective products (correct me if I’m wrong).
A final thing is that I can be patient and wait longer, up to a year, to see what happens in the headphone market. Maybe Shure fixes their headphones, maybe Hifiman gets better QC and the HE500 gets a sturdier cable, maybe better headphones come out in the price range. I’m fine with waiting, and maybe I’ll have more money in the future to spend on headphones. I’ll probably wait anyways until the ODA is released.
Okay, that’s it. I hope this isn’t too long, and I can add a tldr if anyone wants one.
Edit: Totally forgot about the Sony MDR-SA5000, Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, and Koss ESP950. I'm not too clear how the warranty works with the Sony and AT, and I really want a detachable cable in case something goes wrong. The Koss used to be in the right price range, but is now at $999, so I'm not sure what's going on there.
I currently own an AKG K271 MKII and want to upgrade to an open backed headphone. I’m looking at the $700 price range right now, which basically has the Shure 1840, Grado RS1i, and the Hifiman HE500. I don’t like the bright Grado sound, so that leaves the Shure and Hifiman. I’ve heard the Shure, but it didn’t really impress me (the AKG K702 for a third of the price sounded much clearer to me) and it measures poorly. So that leaves the Hifiman, which I’m wary about since I really care about how long they’ll last. One of the reason why the Shures were so attractive to me before I heard them is because you can buy cables, pads, etc relatively cheaply. The HE400 is hot right now, and someone will probably recommend them. They are in consideration, although I am looking for a neutral sound and I’m not sure the HE400 is flat enough.
Another thing is that I will be buying the headphones from Amazon, as I have some gift card money on the site, so that leaves only certain vendors.
My big problem with Hifiman is with the cables, and a secondary one would be driver mismatch (this one doesn’t concern me too much). The new silver ones seem very fragile, much more than the old Canare cables (the same ones the HE400 uses?), and I’ve read many posts of people’s breaking. I don’t want to DIY heat shrink the wire and the connector because I haven’t done it before and I’m not confident I won’t fry the wire. Replacement cables are all around $100 which is way too much for me. I don’t believe cables make a difference in sound, so all I want is durability.
Is it possible for Head-Direct (or other Amazon vendors) to send the Canare cable instead of the silver cable? If they can’t and the silver cable breaks, do I have to send the cable back to them (and pay my own shipping) before they send a new cable? I’m already going to pay a lot for the headphones, and more money spent on shipping a defective item back is something I want to avoid. This includes the driver mismatch problem I guess. From what I’ve read, none of the authorized dealers on Amazon have free return shipping even for defective products (correct me if I’m wrong).
A final thing is that I can be patient and wait longer, up to a year, to see what happens in the headphone market. Maybe Shure fixes their headphones, maybe Hifiman gets better QC and the HE500 gets a sturdier cable, maybe better headphones come out in the price range. I’m fine with waiting, and maybe I’ll have more money in the future to spend on headphones. I’ll probably wait anyways until the ODA is released.
Okay, that’s it. I hope this isn’t too long, and I can add a tldr if anyone wants one.
Edit: Totally forgot about the Sony MDR-SA5000, Audio Technica ATH-AD2000, and Koss ESP950. I'm not too clear how the warranty works with the Sony and AT, and I really want a detachable cable in case something goes wrong. The Koss used to be in the right price range, but is now at $999, so I'm not sure what's going on there.